Dalhousie Dentistry Students Return To Class But Will Be Taught Separately

CBC

Students in their fourth year of studies at Dalhousie University's Faculty of Dentistry are headed back to classes today, but the 13 students who posted sexually explicit messages on a controversial Facebook page will be taught separately from the rest of the class.

The dentistry faculty at Dalhousie came under fire after CBC News received screenshots of the posts on the 2015 DDS Gentlemen's Club Facebook group .

In one of the posts, male students in the group voted on which woman they'd like to have "hate" sex with and joked about using chloroform on women. In another post, a woman was shown in a bikini with the caption “Bang until stress is relieved or unconscious."

On the weekend, Dalhousie administrators rejected a formal complaint against the group of 13 filed by four professors, based on the school's student code of conduct.

The four professors say they are "distressed" that the only disciplinary process will now be handled inside the school of dentistry.

The Faculty of Dentistry's Academic Standards Class Committee is still investigating the students and an independent task force has been set up to look into the issue of misogyny on the Dal campus.

The task force will be led by Professor Constance Backhouse from the University of Ottawa.

Dalhousie will also continue with its restorative justice process — though some people are upset about the process, instead calling for harsher penalties for those alleged to have made the postings.